Two Can Play That Game. Or Can They?

Over the weekend it was announced that Publicis is buying
Epsilon, a leading data and technology company. Is this acquisition to combat’s
IPG’s purchase of Axciom? Or is it to better situate themselves against the
growing threat to agencies from consultancies? Or maybe it’s a response to
client’s in-housing some of the work, particularly media buying, historically done
by agencies.

The answer is yes. This acquisition is in response to all
three. Publicis passed on the Axciom deal last year. Maybe they didn’t want to
be an early mover, but whatever their concerns were then have been dispelled by
this new step. Although it is likely that Publicis operates Epsilon as a
separate entity and doesn’t try to merge it into an agency. Does that defeat
the purpose of linking data/technology to the core business?

I often say advertising today is as much about data and
technology as it is about words and pictures. This is one of the reasons I
stepped out on my own and built an agency around data and tech. It’s time that
others have figured this out. Owning data, especially client first party data,
makes you more valuable to a client and less disposable. But the data and tech
play should be front and center, not a side business. It needs to be integrated
into the process as part of the core service offering otherwise marketers can
still work with an outside company to manage it.

Lastly, embracing data and technology needs to happen at the
account management level of these agencies. I’ve worked at some of the biggest
holding companies and the people who work on client business are typically too
busy doing the day-to-day work to add more to their plate. The jury is out, in
my opinion, about whether the Publicis/Epsilon or IPG/Axciom deals will be
beneficial.